The present invention relates to a continuously operating centrifuge drum for concentrating suspended solids, wherein the solids that precipitate in a stack of disks accumulate in a solids space and are diverted into a receiving chamber through mouthpieces that contain throttle bores and that communicate with the periphery of the solids space.
A centrifuge drum of this type is known from West German AS No. 1 008 660. The solids that precipitate in the stack of disks in this drum accumulate in the solids space and flow, due to the double cylindrical-conical design of the outer surface of the solids space, to the largest diameter or to the periphery thereof. From the periphery the solids are extracted through mouthpieces that communicate with it. This arrangement of mouthpieces is optimal for attaining a high concentration of solids. The cross-section of the throttle bores in the mouthpieces must of course either precisely match the volume of solids being diverted or be larger, and the concentration of solids is controlled by returning some of the diverted solids back into the solids space through special channels.
The aforesaid embodiment is the only one that makes sense to employ when the amount of entering solids fluctuates. Its engineering and controls-technology expense, however, is relatively high. Furthermore, to prevent the clarified phase of the liquid from becoming cloudy, it is impossible to work at the highest possible concentration of solids because it can no longer be ensured that all of the solids will be diverted out of the solids space.